The Cellular and Molecular Origin of Tumor-associated Macrophages
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ABSTRACT: Long recognized as an evolutionarily ancient cell type involved in tissue homeostasis and immune defense against pathogens, macrophages are being rediscovered as regulators of several diseases including cancer. Here we show that in mice, mammary tumor growth induces the accumulation of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) that are phenotypically and functionally distinct from mammary tissue macrophages (MTMs). TAMs express the adhesion molecule Vcam1 and proliferate upon their differentiation from inflammatory monocytes, but do not exhibit an “alternatively activated” phenotype. TAM differentiation depends on the transcriptional regulator of Notch signaling, RBPJ; and TAM, but not MTM, depletion restores tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic T cell responses and suppresses tumor growth. These findings reveal the ontogeny of TAMs and a discrete tumor-elicited inflammatory response, which may provide new opportunities for cancer immunotherapy. MMTV-PyMT mice (Jackson Laboratory) were backcrossed to the C57BL/6 background for 10 generations. Rbpjfl/fl mice were provided by Tasuku Honjo and crossed to CD11ccre mice provided by Boris Reizis. Littermate controls were used in all experiments when possible. All mice were maintained in a specific pathogen-free facility and animal experimentation was conducted in accordance with institutional guidelines. In the MMTV-PyMT spontaneous mammary tumor model, we found the key Notch transcriptional regulator, RBPJ, to be required for TAM terminal differentiation from inflammatory monocytes. The bulk myeloid cell population that remains in CD11cCreRbpj fl/fl mice (the cells in "Rbpj KO" samples), represents monocytes that have begun their differentiation into macrophages, but are unable to terminally differentiate due to the lack of Rbpj.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
SUBMITTER: Willey Liao
PROVIDER: E-GEOD-56755 | biostudies-arrayexpress |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress
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